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MARY KATE SHERIDAN

Writer, Editor and Attorney

“To develop good leaderslong term, you need totarget professionaldevelopmentprogramming.”

ALLISON FRIENDChief Human

Resources Officer,Blank Rome

LI FeatureLEGAL INDUSTRY/BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Tailored TrainingFive Professional Development Tips for Each Attorney Stage

The term professional development often calls to mind a conference room packed with associates

and partners, eating a catered lunch while listening to a generalized Continuing Legal Education

(CLE) class. While there is certainly value in these kinds of training programs, modern professional

development offers attorneys so much more. With greater emphasis on professional development

today than ever before, attorneys benefit from a range of training and innovative methods,

including programs tailored specifically to their practice level.

“To develop good leaders long term, you need to target professional development programming,”

says Allison Friend, Chief Human Resources Officer at Blank Rome. Offerings customized by

professional level provide attorneys with skills that are immediately relevant to their current

practice or that help build a foundation for long‐term success.

Here are five tips for capturing the most critical aspects of professional development for each level

of an attorney’s career: junior associate, mid‐level and senior associates, junior partner and senior

partner.

JUNIOR

1. Start Business Development and Management Training Early

It is never too early to expose junior associates to business development and management

skills. “A training program that’s a comprehensive program will build elements of all of those

skills from the very beginning,” says Ida Abbott, Founder of Ida Abbott Consulting. “If you do

it right, by the time somebody becomes a partner, they’re already adept at doing those

things. They just need to shift their perspective.”

In fact, at some firms, like Blank Rome, junior associates receive credit for bringing in new

business. “At Blank Rome, it’s ingrained in our culture that business development and client

development are critical skills to learn at a junior level,” says Friend, who suggests providing

juniors with an overview of client service and client‐based communication, as well as

networking experience.

2. Stress the Need for Internal Networking

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“They must also be able touse basic business toolsand software and tounderstand at least

An introduction to networking within the firm is also useful to a junior associate’s developing

career. Through internal networking, an associate will get to know senior attorneys and

partners, connect with potential mentors and gain exposure within the firm, and develop a

better understanding of his or her passion, says Friend. Administrators can assist junior

attorneys by training on the importance of meeting others within the firm and working on a

variety of matters with different attorneys, as well as providing tips on how to network, says

Friend.

3. Offer a Law Firm MBA

The practice of law is no longer just about law; business skills have become critical to long‐

term success. Junior associates “need to understand how clients operate in order to fully serve

those clients,” says Abbott. “They must also be able to use basic business tools and software

and to understand at least rudimentary finance principles.”

4. Focus on Writing

Communication is everything in a successful legal career. “Learning to write and research

differently than you did in law school, whether you’re a corporate lawyer or a business

lawyer, is important,” says Friend. Given the highly digital nature of modern communication,

firms shouldn’t train merely on memo and brief writing but also on everyday client

communication like email and text message, says Friend. Such training reinforces that digital

communication should be treated just as formally as other communications despite its

generally casual and immediate nature.

5. Teach Professionalism

Professionalism is another area of importance for juniors. As discussed in “A Roundtable

Discussion: What Law Firms Expect From New Lawyers,” featured in ABA Law Practice

Division’s March 2013 edition of Law Practice Today, junior attorneys should focus on

cultivating softer skills like building respectful internal relationships and engaging in effective

communication. One firm that offers professionalism training for juniors is Andrews Kurth.

The firm explores topics including what professionalism means, the importance of appropriate

and timely communication, and the value of doing “good work,” says Amy Sladczyk Hancock,

Director of Professional Development at Andrews Kurth.

MIDLEVEL/SENIOR ASSOCIATE

1. Implement Small Group Learning

As associates become more senior, they may benefit from learning in smaller groups rather

than large classes. Through small groups, mid‐level and senior associates can hone in on both

common group goals and individual objectives as they work with their peers and outside

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rudimentary financeprinciples.”

IDA ABBOTTIda AbbottConsulting

consultants, says Abbott.

2. Include More Sophisticated Business Development Learning

Once an associate is at the mid‐ or senior‐level, business development training should be more

sophisticated and focus on how to serve clients effectively, develop one’s network and acquire

more business, as well as how to lead teams and develop people effectively, says Friend. For

example, on a practical level, a mid‐level or senior associate may learn about which

conferences are most beneficial and how to use an association meeting to his or her

advantage, she says. Further, firms should encourage mid‐level and senior associates to start

thinking more strategically as they do their everyday work, says Abbott.

3. Continue Hands‐On Learning

Hands‐on learning continues to be essential as attorneys move into more senior levels. “Any

opportunities to do hands‐on learning, shadow another attorney — those are going to be

golden opportunities for learning and legal skills development, and you want those instilled

throughout a person’s career,” says Hancock. Administrators can promote hands‐on learning

by offering pro bono opportunities, secondments or partnerships with a city organization

through which attorneys can gain practical experience, she says.

4. Focus on Management

Management becomes particularly relevant at the mid‐level and senior associate stage

because associates begin to oversee certain aspects of cases, like discovery or briefs. Among

the areas that are key at this stage are thinking about managing deals, delegating down and

mentoring younger associates, says Hancock.

5. Don’t Forget Mentoring and Advising

Firms place a lot of emphasis on mentoring junior associates, but these types of relationships

continue to be vital as attorneys progress through the ranks. In fact, according to a 2011

research report by National Association of Law Placement (NALP) Foundation and West

LegalEdcenter, 95 percent of the nearly 1,500 law firm associates surveyed, ranked mentoring

and on‐the‐job training as the top professional development offerings.

Organic mentoring is absolutely critical, but firms should also facilitate formal mentoring for

mid‐level and senior associates. “We want somebody who is really sitting down and advising

you on your career,” says Friend, whose firm Blank Rome assigns advisers by attorney level.

According to Friend, advisers should counsel associates on the specific legal and professional

skills they should strive to develop and the types of networks they should join, as well as

advocate for the associates as they work toward goals.

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“Any opportunities to dohands­on learning, shadowanother attorney — thoseare going to be goldenopportunities for learningand legal skillsdevelopment, and you wantthose instilled throughout aperson’s career.”

AMY SLADCZYKHANCOCKDirector of

ProfessionalDevelopment, Andrews Kurth

NEW PARTNER

1. Embrace Sponsorship

Sponsorship is a critical development tool at the partnership level. Ideally, a new partner will

connect with a practice group leader or senior partner in his or her group who will advocate

for the new partner internally, says Friend. This sponsor should also become an adviser to the

new partner, offering guidance and helping in such areas as building a practice, developing

leadership skills and creating a business plan, she says.

2. Offer Individualized Attention and Coaching

Once an attorney reaches the partner level, individualized training becomes paramount. One‐

on‐one coaching is a useful tool to help new partners make smooth transitions to their new

roles. Coaching is useful because it is goal‐oriented and occurs in real time, allowing partners

to focus week to week on pushing their practices forward, says Deborah Katz Solomon —

Executive Coach for lawyers and Founder of Acuity Legal Consulting LLC — who usually works

with new partners over a three‐to‐five month period.

3. Shift The Mindset

One‐on‐one coaching also assists new partners in the important step of shifting their mindset

from working as associates to operating as business developers and team leaders. “Developing

new clients and managing teams of attorneys requires a different skill set than the straight up

practice of law,” says Solomon. “To be successful, new partners must renew their focus on

professional development and then make time to follow through.”

4. Learn Through Teaching

Teaching fellow attorneys is particularly useful in polishing presentation skills. “Any time a

partner has to prepare to deliver on any topic, he or she has to prepare, practice, hone

presentation skills, and get feedback on his or her delivery of information,” says Hancock.

“That is a training opportunity in itself. The partner can take his or her feedback and use it for

the next client pitch.”

5. Reinforce Business Development and Leadership Skills

Once attorneys have reached the partnership, they should have already received years of

training in business development and management, but these topics continue to be vital in

ongoing development. “What you have is a continuum, a process of practicing and perfecting

these skills over time,” says Abbott, who notes that business development and leadership

become critical for junior partners. Among the leadership areas new partners should

specifically focus include when to be decisive, when to build consensus, how to build trust,

how to set the course and how to plan strategically, says Abbott.

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“To be successful, newpartners must renew theirfocus on professionaldevelopment and then maketime to follow through.”

DEBORAH KATZSOLOMON

Founder, AcuityLegal Consulting LLC

SENIOR PARTNER

1. Facilitate Discussions

For senior partners, discussion may be one of the most effective means of development.

“Experienced partners often benefit from a less structured format that includes facilitated

discussion with their peers,” says Solomon. She recommends gathering a small group of

partners to discuss common challenges and best practices. More experienced partners are

often as interested in each other’s ideas as they are the advice of an outside expert, she says.

2. Focus on Business Leadership Skills

Even senior partners need support when it comes to leadership. Administrators should include

training in leading people and business management skills among their development

offerings. “It’s one thing to lead a case or matter, but it’s another thing to lead a business line

and the people who support it,” says Friend, who likens leading a practice area to leading

small business.

3. Think Big

By the time an attorney is a senior partner, he or she likely has a successful routine for

pitching new business and managing complex matters. The opportunity for attorneys at this

level is to think on a grander scale. “The focus there is playing a bigger game,” says Solomon.

For example, some partners may wish to expand their practice into new areas, while others

may focus on being more effective in firm leadership roles, she says.

4. Develop a Comprehensive Vision

After finding success as a senior partner, attorneys may become fixated on their routines and

closed off from the way law practice is evolving. “Senior lawyers need to understand those

changes and how they impact their practice, and they need to be able to adapt,” says Abbott.

Having a comprehensive vision of the changing legal landscape and its effect on the firm is

imperative for successful leadership. “As leaders they need to understand what people on the

front line are thinking and experiencing,” says Abbott.

5. Look Down for Technology

For some senior partners, modern technology is a foreign aspect of today’s practice of law. In

many instances, the more junior attorneys in the firm may be more adept at using

technological tools than the senior attorneys. This scenario provides an opportunity for

reverse mentoring through which less seasoned attorneys can offer guidance to more senior

lawyers, says Hancock.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Mary Kate Sheridan is a writer and attorney with a JD from Columbia Law School and a BA in

writing from Mary Washington College. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at

The New School.

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Reprinted with permission from Legal Management magazine, Volume 34, Issue 1, published by the Association of Legal Administrators, www.legalmanagement.org.